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The Citizen and the Law: Who serves whom?

02 Oct 2018

By Gehan Gunatilleke We the citizens are not meant to serve the law. It is meant to serve us. So what then is meant by the ‘rule of law’? It is based on two competing notions. On the one hand, it is a reference to equality before the law; all human beings are subject to the law, and no one is above it. On the other hand, it conveys a more complex ideal – that the law serves us citizens to make our lives better, not worse. We are meant to be subject to the law, but not subservient to it. This is the rule of law that we citizens of any modern democracy desire. But in Sri Lanka, we encounter the opposite. When the law should apply to everyone equally, we find that some are often above it. When the law should serve to protect us, we find that we often need protection from it. In this inverted context, what should we citizens do to restore the rule of law in Sri Lanka? More is more: an end to impunity Some in Sri Lanka are too easily immune to the law. Such impunity plagues the entire spectrum of legal consequences – from the trivial to the egregious. Whether escaping motor traffic laws with the right kind of ID, or escaping incitement laws with the right coloured attire, a few in Sri Lanka effortlessly escape the reach of the law. Will this impunity ever change? In some respects, the reign of impunity in Sri Lanka is under threat. Politicians who thought themselves above anti-corruption laws are now made to face charges. Members of the armed forces who thought themselves above criminal law are now made to submit to courts. Saffron-clad offenders who thought themselves exceptional now find themselves incarcerated for contempt of court. These little incursions into the realm of impunity give us citizens some hope. Yet there is much work to be done. Accountability in Sri Lanka still seems like a theatre production meant for local and foreign audiences. The media diligently reports the day’s performance – anti-corruption cases for local consumption, and military accountability for foreign appeasement. But when the curtains come down, the actors return to their usual lives. We are still to see real and tangible change in Sri Lanka. We citizens must keep demanding results – so that show case trials reflect a genuine trend in accountability. Meanwhile, there are domains in which impunity still reigns supreme. We are still to see any real effort to bring to justice those responsible for inciting ethno-religious violence. We are still to see genuine efforts to investigate state agents responsible for human rights abuses during the armed conflict. The victims of these offences are often members of minority communities. Thus any glimmer of hope we see in the general resistance to impunity is yet to reach the dark recesses of the minority experience in Sri Lanka. Ultimately, we can only judge the law on how it treats the weakest. Sri Lankan citizens must not only seek to end impunity in domains that serve only the majority’s interest. Instead, we must demand the application of the law in the interest of everyone, including minorities. Only then can we restore the first fundamental feature of the rule of law: that no one is above it. Less is more: countering terrible laws When power is concentrated among a few, the law can become a tool of oppression. This risk is most obvious in the context of counter-terrorism laws. While these laws are meant to protect citizens from harm, they are instead often designed to protect those in power from citizens who oppose their schemes. The Sri Lankan experience with public security laws teaches us a bitter lesson: no one who dissents is immune to their unfair application. We might cynically imagine that a Tamil journalist such as J.S. Tissainayagam would be unfairly convicted of inciting communal disharmony for writing an audacious article criticising the Sri Lankan military. He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment before being released due to foreign pressure. But who would have imagined that General Sarath Fonseka, war hero and military veteran, would be convicted of a similar offence under emergency law following his bold bid for the presidency? In Sri Lanka, counter-terror laws are selectively applied to those who oppose power. This has been the terrible legacy of these laws, and this is why we Sri Lankan citizens ought to be terrified of them. The irony of these laws is that they seldom serve to protect us from real villains. Those who are actually responsible for indiscriminate murder in Sri Lanka would never be subjected to these laws. Instead, they occupy positions of power due to their political alliances. If counter-terrorism laws are meant to protect citizens from so-called ‘terrorists’, we should ponder why journalists and political opponents remain the targets of these laws, and not those who wantonly murder police officers, and recruit children. Knowing well how these laws can so easily subjugate the best of us, should we not resist their continued enactment? To do so, we must be driven by a sense of freedom – not fear. States around the world have succeeded in convincing their trusting citizenries of the looming threat of ‘terrorism’, and the urgent need to enhance national security. Acting through fear, we citizens have sacrificed our freedom at the altar of security. This fear dulls our senses. It prompts us to forget that dissent is a sacred right of the citizen. To regain our sovereignty, we must regain our senses, and reject the narrative that terrible laws are meant to protect us. We must demand that they be repealed without compromise. We must ask ourselves whether we should trust the state to protect us through terrible laws when this very same state fails to even apply the ordinary ones. In doing so, we may be able to recover the other fundamental feature of the rule of law: that the law serves to enhance rather than rob us of our freedom. Conclusion The rule of law is not beyond reach in Sri Lanka. These last three years have shown us that, with some small measure of freedom, citizens can aspire to end impunity and counter oppressive laws. Yet we are a fair distance away from establishing the rule of law. The law is still to apply equally to all – to both the strong and the weak, to both the majority and the minority. The law is still to serve our freedom, instead of amplifying our fears. In this context, we citizens must strive to reimagine our relationship with the law – for the law is meant to serve us. We must then demand more of it when it fails to apply to power, and less of it when it serves to target dissent. (The writer is an Attorney-at-law and Research Director of Verité Research)

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Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Automobile, Mother and Baby Products, Clothing, and Fashion. Additionally, Kapruka offers unique online services like Money Remittance, Astrology, Medicine Delivery, and access to over 700 Top Brands. Also If you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.Send love straight to their heart this Valentine's with our thoughtful gifts!


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